Fresno teachers approve strike authorization. Here’s what parents and students should know
Fresno teachers could go on strike next week after voting overwhelmingly to authorize a strike next month if negotiations with the school district don’t result in an agreement.
The strike authorization vote comes nearly a month after the district and the union failed to reach a Sept. 29 deadline to reach an agreement. If teachers go on strike, it will disrupt education for over 70,000 students at California’s third-largest school district.
“No educator wakes up and wants to go on strike, we want to teach and we want to be valued by our school district for our calling,” said Manuel Bonilla, president of the Fresno Teachers Association and teacher at McLane High School.
“But during the course of negotiations,” Bonilla said, “it’s become abundantly clear that Superintendent Nelson is disconnected from the realities of the classroom, out of synch with our district’s needs and now he’s out of time.”
More than 3,450 out of 3,693 votes were cast in favor of the strike authorization, or 93.5%. He said the total votes represent 92% of the union’s 4,015 eligible voters.
The FTA went on strike for the first and last time in 1978 for approximately two weeks. Bonilla said the union was “roughly half the size” then, and had a 59% voter turnout with a 61% vote in favor to strike.
Bonilla said the vote gave the board two authorizations: setting a date for picket lines to start on, Nov. 1, and to hold a supplemental event to share information outside of schools about the FTA’s four priority issues, the strike and how it can be averted.
Bonilla said the FTA remains at odds with Fresno Unified School District specifically on four issues:
Reducing class sizes
Reducing the caseload of special education programs
Paying educators a wage that keeps up with inflation
Maintaining the employee health fund
Given the vote results, the union expects between 3,000 to 4,000 teachers and school staff to potentially walk out, and maybe even more could gather outside district schools if community members join in support. That means willing substitute teachers would have to cross picket lines and instruct students with the curriculum provided by the district because teachers would take their materials and lesson plans out of their classrooms.
The district said it’s ready to handle a strike. Last week, the board of trustees allocated $3 million to beef up security measures and recruitment efforts for substitute teachers for a potential strike and are prepared to pay $500 a day to over 2,000 substitute teachers.
When striking, teachers aren’t paid. If picket lines do start on Nov. 1, he said there isn’t an estimated time they’ll last because educators, though voting in favor of striking, hope to avert the strike and reach a contract they like. For parents concerned about how their students will be taught and cared for, Bonilla encouraged them to keep their kids at home.
“A strike is shorter with more folks out on the picket line and less students in the classroom,” he said.
Now that a strike date is set, the union notifies Fresno Unified within “reasonable time,” somewhere between 48 to 60 hours of notice, before the strike begins.
Bonilla said they are meeting today, Tuesday, and will notify of the strike and provide a document on behalf of the union as a response to the last package proposed by the district with suggestions on how to address the union’s four priorities.
Fresno teachers started voting last Wednesday on the strike authorization vote, after thousands of teachers gathered at the Paul Paul Theater at Fresno Fairgrounds for an impassioned rally where teachers said they were “ready to fight” on issues such as class sizes, pay and caseload for special education teachers. Some said they hoped they didn’t have to strike, and hoped the strike authorization vote would force the district to renegotiate.
The FTA executive board met Monday night after polls closed at 5 p.m. The American Arbitration Association – a non-profit organization that offers arbitration, mediation and election services – tabulated the votes for the union.
Previously, the FTA agreed to a “no strike clause” for their 2019-2022 contract, which expired and resulted in negotiations throughout this year.
This story was originally published October 24, 2023 at 12:15 PM.
